Lagos with a population of over 9 million people is said to have the most robust economy amongst the 36 states in Nigeria. With a GDP of over $36billion in 2007 and an increasing urban migration, Lagos state’s economic potential has not been peaked for various reasons, but for the purpose of this thread, I will focus on diversity as one of the ways in which Lagos can reach its potential to be an economic giant amongst major cities of the world.
Diversity simply means enjoining a group of people from different cultural, racial, tribal or religious background to achieve a particular purpose. This gives room for creativity and innovation.
The economic growth Lagos has achieved so far is as result of the contributions non-natives(i.e Igbos, Hausas, Efiks, Calabars and Yorubas that are not natives of Lagos) of Lagos over the years, what this simply means is that Lagos wouldn’t have achieved its economic status if only the natives of Lagos were the only contributors to Lagos economy.

I am not a psychologist but my intuition tells me that the tribe, culture and religion an individual practises will go a long way in determining his mental, physical, social and spiritual development. Hence, all the different tribes we have in Lagos through their different traits as a result of their diverse bacground has contributed to the development of Lagos financially, socially, economically and otherwise.
The Yorubas have a natural flare for education, it isn’t a coincidence that some of the best universities in Nigeria (i.e University of Ibadan, University of Ife, University of Lagos, Convenant University, Redeemers University etc) are located in the south west. Yoruba students constitute over 60% of the population in the aforementioned universities and over 90% of those students choose Lagos as a destination to get a job creating a job market that both foreign and ingenious firms benefits from. Hence, Lagos generate revenue through personal income tax from these employees which are mostly Yorubas who are the predominant tribe in Nigeria.

The Igbos have natural business intelligence which makes them entrepreneurs by nature. An average Igbo man is a business man which is why they can been seen all over Lagos with a good success rate in any business of interest, through these businesses they have been able to create employment for so many people which in turn generates revenue for Lagos. There is a debate amongst Lagosians as to whicn tribe is predominant in Lagos between the Igbos and the Yorubas because of the Igbo population in Lagos. The reality is that Igbos keep migrating to Lagos in droves to explore the business opportunity that abound therein.

Because of the large population of Lagos, the Hausas through their ground breaking and enviable agricultural techniques have succeeded in supplying Lagosians with fresh food crops from the north, over 80% of what Lagosians eats comes from the north and this is brought in by the Hausas. It is a known fact that northern Nigeria has the most fertile and arable lands, hence the northerners that supplies Lagos have been able to devise a means to meet the increasing food demands of Lagosians over the years.

All of the outlined traits of the tribes listed above does mean one tribe is better than the other and the it does necessarily mean that a particular tribe is better at attributed indicators(i.e Education, Business and Agriculture) than the other, the yorubas’ flare for education does mean they are better educated than the Igbos and Hausas and the Igbos’ business acumen does mean Hausas are lack business knowledge( Dangote is the richest Nigerian and he is Hausa). The outlined traits just shows that majority of members of a tribe are well known for something than the others.

For Lagos to reach its potential, a diversity policy should be created to identity core traits of all the major and minor tribes that contribute to the development of Lagos and create framework that will allow members of all these tribes excel In their area interest.
Fashola put it succinctly when he said “This is a mini – Nigeria. Everyone Is in Lagos, every ethnic group. But we have to use the power of that migrant culture to strengthen our position”

May God bless our Lagos and all the different tribes that have come to contribute to the economic development of Lagos and have also chosen to make Lagos their home……Ameen.

Infinite Diversity, Infinite Potential